Purchasing & importing from US residents only websites

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euanandrews

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Topic # 54753 21-Dec-2009 17:18

Ever wanted to purchase an item, only to find the website your using will only sell/ship to US residents?
Here is a way to get around that, nothing illegal, just a workaround...

Many Geekzone members found this information very useful in another thread, but it was buried deep so I have made this thread to give it the attention it deserves, to help those wanting to purchase an item from a US residents only website.

While many Geekzone members have followed these steps and successfully imported from US residents only websites, you do so at your own risk.

These instructions are provided by NZtechfreak as he explained the process so well, found on another thread I made covering the same topic over at Nokiausers.net, so credit to him for these instructions.

1. Sign up to Shipito - you'll get given your shipito address, and you can set your account defaults, for example default postal method

2. Add money to your Shipito account - they suggest at least the deposit $8.50 (cost of any single transaction). Doesn't really matter how much to be honest, you can always add money later (of course its worth adding enough to cover the shipping for your item, that way it'll be sent straight away instead of waiting for you to add funds). You can enter the dimesions of your item in their website to get a quote for shipping costs, many sellers like Amazon have the dimensions of things listed on their website.

3. Call your credit card company, ask them to change your billing address to match your shipito address. I explained that I wanted to do it to make a purchase online from overseas, they had no problems with this and were very helpful (another kiwi did this recently too and found it wasn't an issue).

4. Make your purchase.

5. When it arrives to your shipito address you'll be notified via email to complete your customs declaration, finalise shipping method etc. Providing you have enough funds loaded to your account it'll be sent once they have the customs declaration details from you. This is all done via the website, very straight forward.

Regarding customs declarations - you are able to declare the item at whatever value you like. This means you can evade import duties etc, thus reducing the cost. If it is lost in the post however you can only claim back its declared value, and if customs know or find out the real value, you can still be stung for tax, possibly customs could hit you up for tax avoidance, so you'll have to make your own determination about how much risk you assume if you are thinking about under-declaring its value.

6. Wait for your item to arrive in the post!

Considerations:

1) The warranty will be a US one, so should you have any problems, you would have to post the device back to the USA at your own cost and delay
2) The power plug will be a USA one, so to work in your country, you may need to purchase an adapter

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Reply # 284421 21-Dec-2009 18:24

Concerning point 5 I would add a couple of warnings. First by declaring a false value you are breaking customs import rules. I can't check what may happen as their web site appears to be broken at the moment but I have always found getting in trouble with customs is not a good idea.

Edit Just re-read this and realised that I make it sound like I have been in trouble with customs. I have not but I also would not like to. Especially as this would also involve the tax man.

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euanandrews

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Reply # 284436 21-Dec-2009 19:10

Nety: Concerning point 5 I would add a couple of warnings. First by declaring a false value you are breaking customs import rules. I can't check what may happen as their web site appears to be broken at the moment but I have always found getting in trouble with customs is not a good idea.

That is correct, and neither myself or NZtechfreak are suggesting people make false declarations, just merely pointing out the purchase and import process and what you could do should you choose to.

c71931f: O.T but has your N900 arrived Euan? As the N900 thread is now Locked by a moderator? >:(

Yes, I requested the thread locked, MF agreed.

I have made a new N900 thread, Nokia N900 - User Thread, which is to be more informative, for which the topics of purchasing, shipping and shipping delays will be considered OT.

And my N900 is still in transit, prob still about 2 or 3 days away, has not reached shipito yet.

euanandrews

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Reply # 284570 22-Dec-2009 11:18

My N900 arrived at Shipito this morning, I filled in the declaration form which was as easy as filling in 3 input fields and submitting, deposited the requested shipping costs and done, easy as pie.

Very easy to use service, no dramas.

chiefie

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Reply # 284593 22-Dec-2009 12:31

Euan, why not post it as blog as I would find that be more useful than getting stucked/lost in the forum topic.

Update: Euan, when you request the bank to change the billing address to the ShipIto's does that mean your credit card bill is also going there? Or you're merely adding a secondary billing address?

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NonprayingMantis

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Reply # 284599 22-Dec-2009 12:45

3. Call your credit card company, ask them to change your billing address to match your shipito address. I explained that I wanted to do it to make a purchase online from overseas, they had no problems with this and were very helpful (another kiwi did this recently too and found it wasn't an issue).

so now my credit card bill get sent to shipito? what about when I want to use my CC to buy something online in NZ and the find the shipping address does not match my address?

chiefie

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Reply # 284606 22-Dec-2009 13:21

NonprayingMantis:
3. Call your credit card company, ask them to change your billing address to match your shipito address. I explained that I wanted to do it to make a purchase online from overseas, they had no problems with this and were very helpful (another kiwi did this recently too and found it wasn't an issue).

so now my credit card bill get sent to shipito? what about when I want to use my CC to buy something online in NZ and the find the shipping address does not match my address?

That's what I'm wondering too.

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Satch

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Reply # 284609 22-Dec-2009 13:35

chiefie:
NonprayingMantis:
3. Call your credit card company, ask them to change your billing address to match your shipito address. I explained that I wanted to do it to make a purchase online from overseas, they had no problems with this and were very helpful (another kiwi did this recently too and found it wasn't an issue).

so now my credit card bill get sent to shipito? what about when I want to use my CC to buy something online in NZ and the find the shipping address does not match my address?

That's what I'm wondering too.

Yes, that seems a fatal flaw in the plan. There's no way I'd want my NZ credit card having a US billing address. That would seem dodgy beyond belief!

It might pay to stick with companies which allow shipping within the US using international credit cards. Amazon is one such place.

richms

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Reply # 284656 22-Dec-2009 16:34

Noone in NZ verifies billing address matches where stuff if being sent to so its a non issue.

Infact I have used a NZ card on sites that claim to verify the address in the past and it has worked ok.

Richard rich.ms

euanandrews

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Reply # 284669 22-Dec-2009 17:32

In regards to the billing address...it's only meant to be a temp thing, but to allay your fears...

There are three ways of going about it;
1) Add the US address as a secondary/alternative address, which will suffice, and your bills will still go to your primary billing address...when companies like Amazon check your credit card to make sure the shipping address is the same as the billing address, they can and will use a secondary/alternative address if there is one associated with the card.

2) Change your credit card primary billing address to the US shipping address, and immediately change it back after the transaction is complete.

3) If you have a debit card, none of this is necessary, debits cards have NO billing address associated to them, and I can confirm Amazon accepted my payment using my debit card with no issues.

euanandrews

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Reply # 284672 22-Dec-2009 17:38

chiefie: Euan, why not post it as blog as I would find that be more useful than getting stucked/lost in the forum topic.

True, could and probably should do...

I only made the thread to get the discussion out of the N900 thread, so to keep threads more on topic and useful.

Satch

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Reply # 284825 23-Dec-2009 12:51

euanandrews:

1) Add the US address as a secondary/alternative address, which will suffice, and your bills will still go to your primary billing address...when companies like Amazon check your credit card to make sure the shipping address is the same as the billing address, they can and will use a secondary/alternative address if there is one associated with the card.

I've tried this before and my credit card company (ANZ) don't have provision for secondary billing addresses. Oh and Amazon allow you to ship items within the US with a NZ billing address so no problems there.

euanandrews

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Reply # 284852 23-Dec-2009 15:24

If you don't need to change your billing address to match, then don't, that's great...

The reason for detailing the step is many online stores, including Amazon, have it in their terms that the billing address must match the shipping address, and I know of many people who have had their orders revoked due to that very reason.

As you have pointed out, sometimes they don't care or don't check, and in other cases you can get around it all together by using a debit card which does not have a billing address associated to it.

euanandrews

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Reply # 286037 30-Dec-2009 12:16

I can confirm his process works flawlessly, having done it twice now, no hassels at all, very easy.

And I did not pay tax on either shipment.

stuzzo

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Reply # 286046 30-Dec-2009 12:56

How do the Shipito shipping rates compare to, say, Amazon, which seem to use UPS, from memory , and can be prohibitive.

US Postal Service shipping can be quite cheap by comparison and items still arrive quickly.

Do you get a range of shipping options?

euanandrews

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Reply # 286051 30-Dec-2009 13:09

Yes Shipito offers a range of shipping options, either USPS, FedEx or Shipito, which is the slowest and cheapest...

The cost of shipping depends on the size of the package, and how much you declare the item as worth...as I found out, there is no point using the size of the tiem from the retailers website, as that will not include any boxing, which adds extra size and weight, hence extra cost.

All up, I paid around $80 NZ which included 1-3 day shipping and Shipito's own charge.

Can't really compare it to Amazon, as it's not possible to ship from Amazon an item like this.

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